Kansas coach Bill Self said Monday it's been "frustrating" for star guard Darryn Peterson to deal with his ongoing leg injuries after being forced to leave Saturday's win over NC State -- his second game back following a month on the sideline.
Peterson missed seven games with a hamstring injury, before returning last weekend against Missouri. With two minutes to go in Saturday's game against NC State, Peterson grimaced after taking a step on the defensive end of the floor and went to the bench for the rest of the contest.
Self told reporters that Saturday's injury was "quad cramping," not a reaggravation of his previous hamstring injury.
"I have not heard the word hamstring one time," Self said. "So that's coming from our medical staff. It's got to get addressed, and it hasn't obviously, yet. And I know it's so frustrating for him, because he gets out there and he can't move. And if you can't move like you're normally moving, then you become cautious to try to move. And we've got to figure that out and we certainly haven't done it yet."
Kansas (8-3) hosts Towson on Tuesday and Self said he's unsure whether Peterson will be available to play.
"I have no idea. I don't know," he said. "We didn't practice yesterday. I just saw him in the hallway and he's going to lift right now with the guys. So we'll practice later. But obviously he had some -- not hamstring based on what I was told -- but some quad cramping there. To me, you guys saw the game, it was evident to me he wasn't moving at the pace that he's got to move at the way people are going to guard him and that stuff. So it was obviously bothering him."
Peterson, the No. 2 recruit in the SC Next 100 and the potential No. 1 pick in June's NBA draft, opened his college career by averaging 21.5 points, 3.5 rebounds and 3.0 assists in his first two games before missing the next because of the hamstring. He returned to score 17 points in 23 minutes against Missouri, and then had 17 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists before suffering the injury against NC State.
Without Peterson, Kansas increasingly turned to sophomore guard Jamari McDowell to fill his spot in the lineup. McDowell started Peterson's final three missed games, averaging 8.0 points and making multiple 3-pointers in each game. Self has also relied more heavily on St. Bonaventure transfer Melvin Council, who on Saturday had one of the best games of anyone in college basketball this season: 36 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists and 9-for-15 from 3-point range.
Kansas rose to No. 17 in Monday's AP poll, with the Jayhawks' only losses this season coming against No. 3 Duke, No. 5 UConn and No. 12 North Carolina.